Could paid social media enable your law firm to attract more clients?

How and why paid social media can bring far better results than organic social media and what your law firm needs to achieve the best returns

Paid social media marketing (alternatively called “promoted social media” or “sponsored social media”) simply means paying to have your law firm’s social media content promoted on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social media platforms.

As explained on the website of (digital marketing training provider) Target Internet, “paid social” (the more common shortened version) isn’t simply a question of “buying likes or followers”, rather, it’s “paying to show [your] social media content to relevant and targeted audiences to grow [your] audience or levels of engagement”.

Content, of course, can range from simple posts and images through lead-generation adverts to high-spec video. Prices vary from platform to platform and format to format, but you usually pay a price per view, engagement or click.

Greater reach

When successful, paid social can enable your law firm to reach far beyond its current social media audience.

The reach of organic (ie not paid-for) social media posts has declined dramatically in recent years, so it can be much harder to reach as many prospective customers as required to achieve your marketing objectives. Paid social media can offer a solution, although organic social still has a place in a business’s overall marketing mix, not least because it can enable you to communicate with existing clients.

Another great advantage of paid social is it can allow you to target different segments of your market with great precision. That could be determined by their location, income, job title, demographics, etc, which again can deliver far greater returns for your law firm’s marketing investment.

Better ROI

Thanks to analytics, measuring your success is relatively straightforward. Social media platforms can provide advertisers with basic insights and metrics, so you can find out exactly how many people watched your video, liked, shared or commented on your posts or followed your law firm.

James Gill, of digital marketing agency Further, explains in his 2017 blog how paid social can provide businesses with much more cost-effective reach for little extra spending.

He creates the following scenario: “You spend £500 on an article for your website and put it on social media without boosting. You have 20,000 followers, with a 2% reach, so your article reaches 400 people. You have just paid £1.25 to reach each person.” However, if “you boost your article to your audience with £150 of paid social promotion, your article reaches 5,000 people. Now you have paid 13p to reach each person. So, by spending a bit more, you can reach an exponentially larger audience.”

Paid social dos and don’ts

Good targeting is essential, of course. And your law firm must pick the right social media platform and know exactly who it us targeting. A good digital marketing agency will be able to help you, of course.

And, crucially, your paid social content should provide your target audience with value or let them know about your solution to a problem or need they have. Moving or still images should command attention and your words (use as few as possible) should engage and inform – with a clear call to action included. Your law firm shouldn’t ignore any comments it receives on social media, of course, it should engage in conversations.

Compared to other options, paid social can prove highly cost-effective. If it isn’t already, maybe you should ask why paid social isn’t an essential element of your marketing strategy.